Stewart



(No Model.) W. W. STEWART.

FOUNTAIN PEN HOLDER. No. 253,953. Patented Feb. 21,1882.

muu Il.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. STEWART, OF BROOKLYN, NFV YORK.

FOUNTAIN PEN-HOLDER.

SIVVECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 253,953, datedFebruary 21, l1882.

Application tiled March 30, 1881.

Toa/ll whom it m ay concern Be it known that I, WILLlAM WASHINGTONSTEWART, of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have inventednew and useful Improvements in lFountain Pen-Holders, of which thefollowing is a full and exact description.

This invention relates to that class of penholders wherein a supply ofink is contained in the holder, and is delivered therefrom to the pen tocompensate the discharge from the pen to the paper in writing. In thisclass of pens the delivery of ink from the reservoir to the pen has beeneffected bythe gravity of the ink alone. If not restrained, the gravity4of the ink would cause it to escape in a steady stream withoutreference to the quantity required by the pen. It has therefore beennecessary to control said escape, and to limit it to the varyingquantities required. To do this various expediente have been resortedto; but they all may be classed under a single' designation, as

barometric, because the iiow is controlled by atmospheric pressure, thepen-holder being a sealed tube, and the escape of the ink being resistedby the external pressure until said pressure is neutralized by theentrance of air.- .Therefore for each drop of ink delivered acorresponding volume ot' air was admitted,

The various practical difficulties attending the application of thegravity principle, as

above indicated, have given rise to aA number of inventions for theiralleviation, and for these `many patents have been issued.

is carried out of the reservoir and delivered to the pen. The vehicle ormedium whereby the capillary action is made effective is a permeablestrand or cord which is caused to extend from the ink within thereservoir to the pen.

This strand may be of natural or woody iiber such as broom, straw, &c.orof f abric--such as a loosely twisted or braided thread or cord. Thispermeable substance becomes `saturated with the ink, and thereafter willform a duct for the passage of the same, and a nucleus to (No model.)

' conduct the flow of an additional quantity which will flow along thewetted surface of said conductor.

In addition to the capillary action of the permeable thread or cord, Iemploy as an auxiliary the vallied force derived from the quality ofcertain surfaces to attractor repel fluid con tact. -Thus a roughenedsurface will, as it were, attract fluids-that is to say, vit enablesthem to Vcling and augments the capillary actionwhereas smooth andglazed surfaces have the contrary effect. I therefore introduce withinthe reservoir roughened or capillary surfaces, to which the ink willcling at the exterior, and -in the central part smooth,` glazed, orrepellent surfaces, along which the air as it enters will lmove withfacility to escape to the upper part of the reservoir. The gravity ofthe ink is diminished by capillary adherence to the roughene'd orcapillary walls, and the escape of the entering bubbles of air isfacilitated by the repellent or glazed surfaces, while the permeablecord or strand andthe capillary force acting in the same cause a forcedand positive flow of the ink to the pen under all circumstances. Theglazed surfaces may be metallic, vitreous, or animal, and among animalsubstances suitable quill has been found to be very satisfactory. Thepermeable strand or cord is placed in connection with the pen, so thatthe movements of the pen Vin writing will move said strand, and therebycause sufficient agitation of the ink to prevent clogging by bubbles orsediment.

That others may fully understand myinve'ntion, I will more particularlydescribe it, having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- 1Figure lis a longitudinal section of a penholder provided withmyiniprovements, as described herein. Fig. 2 represents the same appliedto a stylograph. Figs. 3, 4., 5, 6 represent modifications in thestructure useful to adapt the invention to different conditions orpurposes.

It is to be understood that the structure shown in Fig. lis typical ofmy invention, and that I do not propose to limit myself to the detailsshown and described, but only to limit myself to the features essentialto the results described, as set forth above.

any suitable material; but for this purpose vulcanite or celluloid ispreferred. Its upper end is closed by a head, B, which, for conveniencein manufacture and for convenience in cleaning and repair, is maderemovable. The lower end of the barrel A is partly closed by a point orpen-section, 0,'which carries the ink-chamber, together with the pen anddevices which contribute to the proper flow and distribution of the ink.The point-section C contains the immediatedelivery ink-chamber d and theexterior protector or jacket, E. This jacket, together with theink-chamber having an ink tube arranged to deliver ink to pen on itsconcave side and one or more threads of permeable material arrangedlengthwise in said chamber, doesnot form a part of the inventionincluded in this patent, being described and claimed in anotherspecification which l have filed. The ink descends from the largerreservoir in the barrel A to the smaller reservoir or ink-chamber, d,and thence to the pen. These parts are well understood. As the ink isdischarged from the reservoir its place is filled by equal volumes ofatmospheric air from outside. The interference of the outlowing fluidand iniowing air causes the flow of ink to be uncertain and more or lessintermittent, and to overcome this practical difiiculty many deviceshave been resorted to. In this-invention the force of capillaryattraction is employed in a way which gives it a positive action tocontrol and comA pel the desired flow of iiuid, notwithstanding theopposition of air-bubbles passing in an opposite direction. The vehiclefor the exercise of the capillary force is a permeable strand, fiber, orcord, which isextended through the ink-chamber d and to and in contactwith the pen. This strand or cord becomes saturated with ink, and iscapable of constituting a duct through which the ink will iiow, eventhough surrounded by air. In practice I employ a small strand.ofbroom-corn or other similar woody substance, (represented by b, Fig. 1,)or it may be vegetable fiber-such as cotton, as at a, Fig. 4, preferablylightly twisted; and when the latter is employed it may be stretchedthrough the ink-spaces, being secured at both ends, or it may be woundaround a wire or other rigidsupport. This latteris the preferred mode.Instead of wood liber, the part b may be a light spring of gold or othernon-corrodible metal, and be wound from end to end with the tine ber orthread. Said spring is fastened at its point to the point of the inktube or gutter g, whence it curves upward, so as to be in contact withthe pen F, and thence downward over a supporting-pin, e, and in throughthe ink tube and chamber d. Each movement of the pen in writing causesthe spring to dex, and its forward end being fixed in the end of thegutter, the motion occasioned by the exure of the spring is resolvedinto a longitudinal lnotion of that part which is within the ink tubeand chamber d.

The permeable strand above described has the capillary effect described;but this effectis facilitated by the employment in connection therewithof vitreous or otherwise glazed surfaces, to which the bubbles ofentering air will not cling, and therefore they pass rapidly away to theupper end of the chamber or reservoir. For this purpose pieces of quillseem to be well adapted, and I have used a slender cutting of quill,inserted in the chamber d, with` excellent results. I also employ platesof quill or of glass or other artificial glazed material in the body ofthe reservoir, as shown at G, and I have also employed the glazedsurface in the fprni of a tube, as shown at H, Fig. 4.

When the stylus is employed. instead of a pen, as shown in Figs. 2, A5,and 6, it is advantageous to connect said stylus at its upper end with acoiled spring, m, of fine non-corrodible wire, as'shown in said figures,and said spring may be made of thin fiat wire covered with a fibrousmaterial, as shown in Fig. 5whereby the capillary surface is composed ofa permeable iibrous substance, and its capillary action is therebyincreased. The capillary and re pellent effect may he also in a largemeasure effected by roughened and polished surfaces ik on the interiorof the barrel, and these surfaces will,to the best advantage, bearranged in alternate stripes, as shown in Fig. 6. The

ringsor ribsl p are placed in the reservoir to assist the ink to clingto the wall.

As hereinbefore stated, the structures shown in the accompanyingdrawings are merelytypi in Figs. 2, 5, and 6 a stylographic needle, g,-is represented instead of a pen, and in Fig. 3y

a permanently-fixed tube, r, is substituted.l for a pen. This latterwill serve for coarse writ ing, such as is done in directing tags,packages, Sto.; but theinstrumentforiinaldelivery of the ink to thepaper or other surface is not material to the subject-matter of thisinvention. For the purpose of certainty I will rccapitulate that theentering bubbles of air are the obstructers of the ink-flow, and th atthe fibrous or permeable strand by capillary action forces a downwarddow of ink past saidobstructing bubbles, and that the glazed surface, bya species of repellent action, facilitates the upward movement of theair-bubbles. It will be apparent, also, that the capillary and repellentforces may be graduated and adjusted as to each other so as to adapt theflow to any defined requirement, either as to use or quality of ink.

Having described myinvention, whatI claim as new 1s 1. A holder with itsinterior made of vulcanite or other material, and provided,substantially as described, with capillary and glazed surfaces, wherebythe capillary surfaces will co-operate with the gravity of the fluid,and the glazed surface will facilitate the movement ofthe enteringbubbles of air.

ICO

2. A holder portions of the interior surface whereof are madedissimilar-viz., roughened and glazed-and so arranged that capillaryattraction of the one and the non-capillary 5 action of the other willbe graduated with relation to-each other for the purpose of regulatin gthe How. Y

3. A permeable strand or cord, arranged to be moved by the pen as a pipeto draw off. the

1o ink from the reservoir, combined with said pen and a trough or bathunder the saine.

4. A fountain pen-holder provided with an ink tube or gutter, g, and a'pen, F, combined with a permeable elastic strand, b, at its end, 15secured to the point of the ink-'gutter g, and

R. D. O. SMITH, J. C.A TURNER.

